Ship in a Bottle Regatta at Teign Corinthian Yacht Club
by John Davey 9 Apr 2007 19:17 BST
6-9 April 2007
The welcome summer weather brought out thirty-one dinghies at Coombe Cellars, in South Devon, for the Teign Corinthian Ship in a Bottle Regatta. Eight races over the four days of Easter with five results to count.
Good Friday saw Gary Molton, in his Solo, demonstrate the benefits of some recent coaching with a second and third place. This put him joint overnight leader with another Solo sailor Rob Powell who collected a third then a second place. Winner of the first race was Paul and Kelly Craft in a RS 200 and in the second race Daniel Craft in his Laser Radial.
Powell continued to set the pace with a victory in race three and then second place in race four. Another Solo sailor, John Davey, took a second and Molton third. The Craft team added another win to their tally and Davey third in the second Saturday race.
On Sunday the wind kept the competitors guessing as to when the sea breeze would fill in, as it had done on the previous days. Eventually, after application of the Race Officer’s prerogative and adjustment for handicap, the winner was a very young Jack Smith in his little Tera. Second place went to teenager Sammie Colyer in her Pico and third place to a not so young Davey. The second race of the day saw Chris Cunningham blast away in his Vortex to take the honours ahead of Davey and then Dan Craft.
Powell knew that he was well placed to take the trophy on day four, provided that he put in one good result from the last two races. In the final race Powell actually beat every boat on the water, and so won the Regatta. In the penultimate race, the Crafts took another win to keep up the pressure, with Solo sailor Brett Murch second and Ralph Weller third in another Solo.
Davey was second in the last race, just ahead of Murch. After Powell, John Davey and Paul and Kelly Craft were on equal points overall, but the Crafts were given the runner-up slot on count back.